THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT SAY TO A TRANSLATOR

1) I will do it with google translate

 

Never ever tell a translator that you will translate something with Google Translate!

First of all, you cannot even imagine all the mistakes your translation will have.

Secondly any time someone uses Google Translate, a translator dies –and we do not want that, do we?

 

So, hands off from Google Translate!

2) You are too expensive

 

If you really think that a translator is too expensive, because they're just "changing the words form one language to another", you don't have the slightest idea of what translating really means.

Before even thinking of something like that, you should know that translating isn't just "changing the owrds from one language to another" (just writing it makes my flesh creep), but it is also about ensuring taht the translated text is consistent with the target culture. It's also about the adaptation of the target text to the context in which the translation is needed and, as a result, with its difficulty, its format and, last but not least, its urgency.

3) I've lived abroad I can be a translator

 

Never ever say something like that to a translator, if you care for your life!

Living abroad for a while, does not entitle you to become a translator

To become a translator you have to study really hard, practice a lot, and you need to keep up to date in the area(s) in which you specialised

4) One of my acquaintances is a native speaker i'll ask them

 

Being a native speaker doesn’t entitle you to become a translator

Why? Because it isn’t enough!

As I previously stated, if you want to become a translator you must study, practice and, most importantly, #keep up to date in the area(s) of your choice

5) You are a translator you must know every single word

 

Seriously?! We are translators not dictionaries on two legs!

6) It takes too long

 

When translators ask you the timing required for a translation, they do so because, depending on the difficulty of the source text, they have to calculate the time it will take to translate it, revise it, go to the Justice of the Peace for the sworn translation (which takes quite some time) and, finally, give the translation back to you by the date you need it.

So, before rushing a translator, or even scolding them if they tell you that a ‘short’ text will take longer than you expected, ask their opinion on feasibility and timing so that neither you nor them will have any problems.

7) You shoul've learnt (add any particular language of your choice)!

 

First of all, everyone of us decides which languages they want to  study.
Secondly, mastering a foreign language to such an extent that you can easily translate from it into your mother tongue is not an easy task!
It takes years of study and practice, and it is something you never stop doing.

Word of a linguist and translator.